


I Need You

by puppyfacedbrokenboys



Category: Teen Wolf (TV)
Genre: Alive Aiden, Future Fic, Insomnia, M/M
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-11
Updated: 2014-10-11
Packaged: 2018-02-20 17:35:18
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,527
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2437091
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/puppyfacedbrokenboys/pseuds/puppyfacedbrokenboys
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>There’s three stains, five cracks, and thirty tiles on his bedroom ceiling. He also has a spider “friend” that has two flies ready to eat in the right corner over his television. He can see the web fluttering in the breeze made by his ceiling fan. And the dude that lives above him uses his bathroom every day at three-thirty in the morning.</p><p>These are the things Aiden notices instead of sleeping.</p>
            </blockquote>





	I Need You

There’s three stains, five cracks, and thirty tiles on his bedroom ceiling. He also has a spider “friend” that has two flies ready to eat in the right corner over his television. He can see the web fluttering in the breeze made by his ceiling fan. And the dude that lives above him uses his bathroom every day at three-thirty in the morning.

These are the things Aiden notices instead of sleeping.

Aiden isn’t used to sleeping alone. And he’s found that he hates it. Now that Ethan has moved in with Danny, he doesn’t have his twin’s comforting presence next to him to make him feel safe.

To make him forget.

Because when Aiden’s alone, he’s alone with his thoughts. And he hates it. He hates falling into his mind, consumed by his fears and his regrets. He hates it, and he’s scared one day he won’t be able to find his way out of the blackhole that is his mind.

So sleep alludes him, or he purposely keeps it at bay. He drinks and drinks, numbing his brain and watches an endless stream of Netflix. There are dark bruises under his eyes, and he’s taken to having to use eye drops for his constant dry eyes from staying awake.

He’s so tired, even his enhanced healing can’t help him on that front. And he’s failing his classes at the community college because he cannot sit still and focus. But he’s got more muscle definition than he’s ever had (not that he needed any help), because when drinking doesn’t make him pass out, he figures pure, old-fashion exhaustion from working out too long might make him collapse and black out just for a while.

But even those methods don’t last. So he sits, staring at his ceiling, counting and listening. He can actually feel himself slowly going crazy. And maybe he deserves it after the horror he’s done.

Tonight was one of those nights, a night after a string of those nights, and he was just so desperate to just… go to sleep. To sleep for a very long time without fear of being haunted by his thoughts.

Aiden groans, defeated, hands pulling at short hair before he’s clicking off the television and grabbing his keys to go for a drive. Sometimes it helps, he’s found, when nothing else has. So he jumps on his bike, revs and pops a wheelie on his way out of the parking garage of his apartment complex.

And he drives and drives, for what feels like hours. He just follows the road, and only notices how long he’s been driving when his legs start to cramp, his back muscles tensing, and his body shivering from the wind. He’s not sure where he’s at until he realizes he’s standing in front of a ground floor apartment door with the sun slowly rising behind him, the light glinting off the metal numbers of 37 in front of his face and hears a thud. He knocked.

Before he can think much of it, the door is swung open roughly with a voice grouching, “Get the fuck out of here. Us normal people are trying t—”

"Jackson," Aiden breathes, like a prayer, and lets his body sag on the door frame at the sight of the shorter boy, hair sticking up every which way from sleep, glaring daggers at him. But Aiden didn’t care, letting a goofy smile grace his lips for the first time in what felt like forever.

"Oh, you. What the fuck are you doing here? There’s this thing called a cell phone, and I know you have one because I boug—mmph."

Chapped lips clash onto Jackson’s, cutting off his bitching as Aiden all but collides into him. His brain is fried and he’s just letting his body do what it wants, and apparently it just wants Jackson because—

Jackson groans, a bad groan, frustration, and forcefully pushes on Aiden’s chest, the force causing Aiden to scrape his teeth on Jackson’s bottom lip and a bead of red bubbles up from the wound. Jackson hisses, and a link tongue darts out to lick at the blood.

"Hey, wait, no—ow. None of that. As much as I love this, this thing going on here, no. I literally just dropped into bed from a cram session and then you come pounding at my door, interrupting my sleep. No. Explain why the fuck you’re here and why it couldn’t fucking wait for a phone call."

Aiden cringes, and sighs. His whole body seems to deflate right then and Jackson has to reach out and grab his arm to steady him; steers him to the couch.

"Whoa, hey— forget what I just said. None of that matters if you’re gonna collapse on me," Jackson rambles, but moves the pillow behind Aiden’s head to prop him up, curling a little into the taller boy’s side instinctfully, as if being close would be the solution to the problem.

And maybe…

Jackson’s hand smoothes over Aiden’s side, and Aiden can feel his body relaxing. “Aiden, seriously… you don’t look so good,” Jackson says in a lower voice, concern interwoven in the urgency, his eyebrows knitting together. “What’s wrong?”

"I can’t sleep," Aiden says on an exhale, and when he continues he’s looking at Jackson and his voice is a mere whisper. "I-I can’t be alone. I-I hate it. I want…" he trails off, trying to swallow the lump in his throat; notices how close he and Jackson are — the first time in a month — and how his gaze follows the action. "The nightmares. I-I want…" he tries again, but he can’t utter the three letter word stuck on his tongue.

Jackson stays quiet and his face relaxes in a way that makes Aiden’s heart skip and the small upturn of Jackson’s lips is an indictator that he heard it. “Aiden, it’s okay. You’re safe here. Okay, asswipe? You know that.” The soothing reassurance slips from his lips like natural and Aiden sags into the couch. His eyes drift shut and he lets out a shuddering breath when he feels Jackson’s lips on his nose and then his forehead; warm, chaste kisses.

And he’s right. Aiden is safe here. Safe with Jackson in a way he had only known with his twin. Now that Ethan had Danny, Aiden automatically went to the next person he felt safe with: Jackson; even if that meant driving in the middle of the night for three hours to get to him.

"I-I want…" he tries again, swallows, shakes his head. Aiden opens his eyes, stares into Jackson’s blue ones and grabs him but the nape and pulls his head down until their foreheads are touching. He feels a shudder run through Jackson’s body, one of his own spreads through him too, almost as if it wanted to catch Jackson’s.

"I /need/ you," he finally says, a mere breath between their lips and he leans up to close the gap between them. When he pulls away they’re both gasping. "I need you. I can’t sleep without you, haven’t for the past month," he admits, chest heaving as realization crashes over him. "That week we had together… it was the best sleep I’ve had since Ethan began staying with Danny. I know, I’m starting to sound like a fucking sap, but it’s true. I need you. I want you. I love you. You make me feel like I’m worth something. And I didn’t even realize it until I was suddenly standing at your door and you were yelling at me."

Jackson’s eyes widened a little and Aiden could feel his heart sink into his stomach. He tensed, waits for the rejection but instead Jackson presses foreward, his whole body stretched out and pressed into Aiden. Grounding him as his lips sealed over Aiden’s, making his toes curl when Jackson’s warm tongue touches his.

"Well, I’m glad you came to your senses, though I wish you had picked a time where I wasn’t dead on my feet." That pulls a small chuckle from Aiden and Jackson continues on. "So let’s just sleep, okay, and we’ll talk about this later, when I can be more eloquent in how I feel about you, mkay? Now, c’mon, let’s go to bed." Jackson presses a kiss to the corner of Aiden’s mouth as he nods, and then pulls Aiden up from the couch to lead him to his bed. Aiden automtically wraps himself around the shorter boy.

They fall into bed, a tangle of limbs and it doesnt take long to get comfortable with Aiden laying face down with Jackson draped over his back, lips pressed to his neck.

"And Aiden?"

"Mm?"

"I’m glad you’re here and I love you too, you know," Jackson whispers into the skin by his ear, nipping at the lobe and then pressing the flat of his tongue to the top of Aiden’s spine, ellicting a low moan. Aiden’s hand searches out Jackson’s and they hinge their fingers together, squeezing.

"Night, Jackass," is murmured into a pillow, followed by a "Just sleep, asswipe."

And for the first time in a month, Aiden does.


End file.
